


The One Where Rio Gets a Dog

by fortunehasgivenup



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Dogs, F/M, Fluff, Mild Sexual Content, No Plot/Plotless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 05:20:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20325748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortunehasgivenup/pseuds/fortunehasgivenup
Summary: Rio gets a dog.





	The One Where Rio Gets a Dog

**Author's Note:**

> [This is the dog.](https://twitter.com/dog_rates/status/1145759792960380928)
> 
> Warning: There is a brief mention of an animal dying (the dog of a kid in Marcus' class).

Among the things that Beth expected to see in her life, Rio walking towards her holding the leash of a tiny French bulldog as the dog trots along happily was not one of them.

“Cute dog,” Beth says when the two of them finally reach the bench she's sitting on.

Rio scowls at it, but the dog just plops down on the grass and pants, looking up at Rio with such adoring eyes that Beth can’t even handle it. It’s the cutest thing she's seen in a while.

“What’s with the killer eyes?” She teases. 

“So a couple nights ago,” he starts, “I’m paying a visit to a guy who owes me money. Serious money. And he’s owed me a long time. He ran out of warnings.” 

_I went there to kill him_, Rio doesn’t say as the puppy leaps on one of his shoelaces. He sighs and bends down to scoop the puppy into his arm and straightens up with the dog tucked in his arm.

“We deal with him, only for this little guy to start yapping from the other room.”

Beth smiles at the puppy and reaches over. She holds her hand for him to sniff and when he licks her fingers, she scratches his head. “And you couldn’t leave him behind.”

Rio’s lips thin. “Cisco’s building doesn’t allow dogs and Bullet’s allergic.”

“Leaving you the proud daddy of this sweetheart,” Beth coos, rubbing the dog’s wrinkly neck.

“Marcus has been after me for a dog since he was old enough to say the word dog,” Rio says. “He’s over the fucking moon, but no way was I going to make his ma take on a puppy. She’s got her own life going on.”

“Meaning that you have a dog full time, even when Marcus isn’t around.” Beth stops touching the dog as it begins to yawn, ears twitching and eyes closing. He collapses in the crook of Rio’s arm and apparently falls asleep. “What’s his name?” 

“Maximus.”

Beth looks at Rio. “Marcus named him?”

He nods.

Beth smiles at the sleeping puppy. “He really is adorable.”

Rio just scowls at her.

—————

For all of his insistence that he doesn’t really like dogs, Rio and Marcus quickly take to being dog owners. When they come to the park, they’ve always got a toy and water and treats for Max, who clearly adores Marcus just as much as he loves Rio.

All the moms, and some of the dads, sigh when the three of them come into the park. Usually Max is tugging at the leash, doing his best to chase something, as Marcus runs with him. Rio saunters more slowly, but seems to have no trouble keeping up with their much shorter legs.

One day, Beth is sitting with Rio and discussing a payment when Marcus comes over to the bench, a tuckered out Max in his arms and the leash trailing on the ground behind him.

“Hi Marcus,” Beth greets him with a smile. “How’s Max?”

“He’s real tired,” Marcus tells her. “Dad, can you look after him?”

Rio nods, patting the bench. Marcus puts the dog on his lap instead.

“Thanks Dad,” Marcus says, then turns on his heel and runs back to the climbing equipment.

She half expects Rio to shift Marcus to the bench, but he just drops his hand on Max’s head and pets the snoozing dog as they finish up their conversation.

————————

Maximus is getting bigger and he recognizes Beth now, gets happy to see her at the park. She bends down to coo at him and give him belly rubs as his owner comes over much more slowly.

“You’re a beautiful boy, aren’t you?” She scratches Max’s tummy and his tongue lolls out.

“My mama always said I was,” Rio deadpans as he takes a seat on the bench next to Beth’s.

Beth scoffs. “I’m talking to Max, not you.”

“Well you know what they say about dogs and their owners,” Rio says, giving her a lecherous look. 

Beth smiles. “Did you make an appointment to get him fixed?” She asks sweetly. He looks horrified. “You should do that soon.”

She sees his hand twitch towards the crotch of his jeans and feels a sense of satisfaction.

————————

One day, Rio’s at the park first. As she approaches, she notices that there’s something weird about his jacket, but it takes Beth a minute to figure out what it is. The only thing that really clues her in is Max’s head popping out over the zipper and barking at Beth.

“Awww,” Beth leans down to scrunch his face and scratch under his chin. “Are you cold?”

“Yes,” Rio complains, “I am. And this big baby is leeching my body heat.”

Beth laughs, then sits next to him. “That’s not how that works. You know we can meet somewhere inside, right?”

“Yeah,” he sighs, “but not everywhere lets you bring in dogs and Marcus made me promise not to leave Max alone.”

“Something wrong?” She asks.

Rio turns to look at her, one of his hands coming up to scratch Max. “A boy in his class, his dog died over the weekend. Marcus is a little freaked out.”

“Oh.” 

Beth sets her hand on top of Rio’s. Max licks both of them, but Rio’s too busy bridging the distance between their mouths to scold him.

————————

Beth stretches, then rolls towards Rio. Or least, that’s what she’s doing until a long tongue licks her face.

She yelps and opens her eyes to see Max stretched out between them, grinning at Beth.

“Are you supposed to be on the bed, mister?” Beth asks him, reaching out to give him pets and attention anyways.

Rio groans. “No, he isn’t.” He’s on his stomach, face turned away, but he shifts onto his back and turns his head towards her. “He’s got his own bed.”

Realizing that Rio is awake, Max stands and climbs onto Rio’s chest before collapsing back down. 

Clearly defeated, Rio just rolls his eyes and sets his hands on Max’s back. 

“You spoil him,” Beth says, touching his arm.

Rio frowns. “No I don’t.”

“You do,” Beth laughs. “Otherwise he wouldn’t be on the bed and he certainly wouldn’t be using you as a pillow.”

“Don’t listen to her, boy,” Rio mock whispers as he strokes up and down Max’s flank. He’s still sleepy eyed, but returns Beth’s kiss when she goes to him.

———————

“Need you to look after Max for a few days,” Rio says when he shows up at her house one evening. 

Beth looks at Max.

“I’ve got his shit in the car,” he jerks a finger over his shoulder and when Beth nods, he sets Max down to explore. 

His instructions are perfunctory. Beth knows how to take care of a dog and Max is a healthy young one. With a quick goodbye kiss, Rio’s gone.

Max sits at the door, staring longingly at it as though he were just waiting for Rio to come back in. It’s pretty much how Beth feels.

“Sorry boy,” Beth tells him, “but I’m all you’ve got for a few days.”

He tilts his head towards her and he looks so sad that Beth bends down and picks him up, carrying him to the couch. 

“Want to watch a movie with me?” 

He brightens a little when she lays back against the cushions and keeps him in her lap, though he falls asleep barely twenty minutes in.

Beth is falling asleep herself when Max bolts upright and leaps off her lap to stand between her and the source of a sound in her kitchen. She rubs at her eyes and calls out, “Hello?”

She kind of expects it to be Annie or Ruby. But it’s Dean who rounds the corner only to stop when Max starts to growl.

“Beth, whose dog is this?” Dean wants to know right away.

“C’mere Max,” Beth calls the dog. He swings his head towards her and backs up slightly, but stays between her and Dean. “He’s Rio’s.”

Dean’s brows pull down. “You’re looking after his dog?”

Beth levels him with a glare. “Max and I spend plenty of time together at Rio’s place. Why wouldn’t I look after him?”

“Of course he owns a dog like that,” Dean mutters. “Probably vicious too.”

Beth scratches Max’s neck. “Only if threatened. What the hell are you doing here?”

Whatever brought Dean to her house, he doesn’t tell her. Just leaves without saying another word. Beth rewards Max with treats.

——————————

When Rio comes to pick up Max, Beth is lying on her back in the living room, letting the dog cover her with a blanket. One second, Max is trying to tug the corner of it up over her body and the next, he freezes. Then he barks and takes off for the door.

She hears Rio laughing as Max barks and when she sits up to look over, she sees that he’s crouching by the door, giving Max a rubdown.

“He give you any trouble?” Rio asks.

Beth shakes her head as she stands. “No, he was great. Even helped me out when Dean came over.”

“Yeah?”

She nods. Rio stands up and wraps his big hands around the back of her neck to pull her close. After he kisses her, he smiles. “Hey,” he says. 

Beth pulls him back and they stumble towards the bedroom, shoving at each other’s clothing.

He manoeuvres her onto the bed, following her without breaking their mouths apart. 

Beth whimpers when he pulls away.

“What are you doing?” She asks, but he’s rolling off the bed and picking up Max from his spot near their feet and taking him outside of the bedroom and shutting him on the other side of the door.

“He ain’t watching us have sex,” Rio tells her, shoving his underwear down as he comes back to the bed.

Beth hears Max whine, but before she can feel too sorry for him, Rio’s yanking off her pants and burying his mouth against her cunt.

—————————

Rio looks at Max. 

Max moves over so that Rio can sit down on the couch, but he immediately clambers onto their laps and stretches out with a yawn. 

“You’re teaching him bad habits,” Rio scolds, even as he starts to rub Max’s ears.

“I’m teaching him bad habits?” Beth turns towards Rio. “I am?” She thinks her voice might be getting a little hysterical.

“Yup,” Rio says and Beth can’t tell if he’s being this obtuse on purpose or not, so she just huffs and starts the movie.

She looks over to Rio, who’s scratching Max’s head with a soft smile, the one that says he’s relaxed. He’s at home. Leaning over, she kisses the corner of his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m going to go through my Brio Scrivener document and post some of these drabble type things unbeta’d, so any mistakes are my own.
> 
> I have no idea how to rate things, so I went with Mature. As usual, if there's content I should tag for, please feel free to let me know! Thanks for reading. :)


End file.
